My name is Brenda and I am a retired Tucson police department detective and middle school science teacher. I am also a small business owner who sells specialty soaps and seasonal wreaths — in large part to help pay for the very expensive medications. I have asthma and am also allergic to both bee stings and latex. I am supposed to carry an EpiPen with me at all times to avoid hospitalization for my severe allergies. I am 66 years old and recently switched to Medicare. I can’t believe how expensive my EpiPens are on Medicare. Because of the price, I have a difficult time refilling my prescription. There have been times where I could not afford to carry an EpiPen and ended up hospitalized with anaphylactic shock after being exposed to latex. It is unfair that seniors like myself should have to worry as much as I do to afford our prescriptions. I shouldn’t have to spend my retirement praying that my small business sales go well so that I can finally purchase my EpiPen. It isn’t right.
I have been a Type 1 diabetic for many years. I’ve had to ration my insulin in the past due to high prices. On several occasions I starved myself and took less insulin than I was supposed to so my vial would last longer. Unfortunately, even doing that, I would run out of insulin. I wasn’t involved in diabetes groups and knew no other diabetics. I don’t even think there was a name for rationing insulin at the time. I thought I was in a unique situation, so I didn’t reach out for help. All those years of rationing insulin have caused diabetes retinopathy, insulin resistance, and long-term complications that never would have occurred if I had access to affordable insulin. My health is what paid the price.
I’m 60 years old, work as a contractor for a life science company, and live with emphysema. Over the past few years, the cost for my inhaler has ranged by hundreds of dollars depending on my insurance plan. Lower drug prices for long-acting inhalers would bring peace of mind to me and countless other patients across the country. Having predictable costs over time makes budgeting easier, savings more robust, and we all know less stress makes for a happier public.
My name is Janet Schwartz, and I’m a retired nurse from Newark, DE. I’m 74 years old and was finally diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 59 years old after experiencing symptoms, like nerve and joint pain, for a very long time. I also have type 2 diabetes. The price of my medications has tarnished what are supposed to be my golden years. I have adult children and I don’t want them to have to pay for my drugs and worry about me. I didn’t have children because I wanted to be taken care of in my old age. I just want them to be happy. I just want to afford my prescription drugs.
My name is Barbara Bultman. I have 8 kids, 19 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren. When I’m not with my family, I love to spend time with my longtime group of girlfriends. I have issues with my lungs, so my doctor wrote me a prescription for multiple inhalers. I never expected to have to worry about the cost of medicine, but it’s now something that is constantly on my mind. I ration my inhaler and it affects my health and my lungs. I get scared and it causes stress, which only worsens my health. Life is hard when you’re sick and aging. I hope every day that I will receive help and be able to afford my medication.
My name is Tammy L. de la Cruz. I live with a rare autoimmune disorder, and to treat my condition, every week I receive Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment. I would become paralyzed without this treatment, which terrifies me. I have eight grandkids and love helping them out. I volunteer with my local food pantry and with a social service agency that serves those that have intellectual and developmental disabilities. I love coloring, reading, and up until a few months ago I attended college full time –– and thanks to my IVIG treatments, I was able to walk across the stage to get my BS in Psychology. Not being able to afford my treatment would have made these enjoyable hobbies more difficult, if not impossible, for me. I found a grant at the 11th hour, saving myself from paralysis. I know the future of this grant funding is not guaranteed. People with illness shouldn’t have to work so hard to fund extreme drug costs; it’s cruel. Patients like me shouldn’t have to rely on grants to cover the cost of our treatments. We shouldn’t have to deal with the uncertainty of constantly changing costs and the concerns of what will happen if we lose access to our grant and therefore our prescriptions. No one should have to experience the feeling of hopelessness I felt when I thought I wouldn’t be able to afford the treatment I needed. It doesn’t have to be like this. We need changes to our system that make prescription drugs more affordable.
My name is Kolton Chapman. I am a transgender man living with a chronic illness. My life hasn’t always revolved around my illness –– I am an artist who enjoys coloring books and helping people design logos and other items to help with their businesses.
I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and moyamoya disease, a rare blood vessel disorder.
My main priority should be focusing on my health –– not on bills and making ends meet. But unfortunately, with high prescription costs, their prices and my medical debt always factor into my decisions.
My life path has been completely altered by expensive prescription drugs and drug company greed. I often feel like I’m behind all of the people my age — even people younger than me — because I’ve had to focus my time and money on staying alive. We shouldn’t have to give up on pursuing a college education because of crippling medical debt. We shouldn’t have to make every financial decision with the cost of prescriptions and medical debt in the back of our minds. Things can be better if our leaders rein in drug companies’ greed and make the needs of patients like me the priority.
My name is Kris Garcia and I’m from Denver, Colorado. I have four bleeding disorders, asthma, and several allergies. Having multiple bleeding disorders, including hemophilia, leaves me in a constant position of uncertainty. I have to be incredibly careful, as any emergency can quickly turn into both a health and financial crisis. Since cauterization is more difficult with my bleeding disorders, I rely on Humate-P should an emergency occur. But the astronomical cost of these drugs only increases the stress of an emergency. Each vial of Humate-P costs $10,000, and for each infusion, I would need four vials.
I shouldn’t have to live in constant fear of a medical emergency also bringing financial ruin to me and my family. These astronomical drug prices have affected decisions in my life and have created a fear of financial ruin. Manufacturers get tons of government funds to produce drugs, but still profit off their patents and charge us unreasonable prices. We need changes to reduce these unaffordable prices so that people like me don’t live in a state of constant fear of whether we’ll be able to access our prescriptions.